In his latest blog, the Minister for Civil Justice (Mr Jonathan Djanogly) suggests that mediation as a method to ensure a fairer, faster and less costly system.
Any regime that could make dispute resolution fairer, faster and more efficient has got to be good. We’ve been helping desperate landlords since 1999. In our experience, if any system is going to work, it should take into account:
1. Efficiency
Currently, it is faster for landlords to pursue legal action against a tenant, as oppose to pursuing mediation. When a tenant is in rent arrears, mediation isn’t as attractive as removing your non-paying tenant.
2. Enforcement
Mediation is pointless unless the agreements made are binding and can be enforced. For a landlord, there would be nothing worse than mediating with a problem tenant only for the tenant to break the agreement.
This would require the landlord to start the legal process from the beginning, which will cost time (and possibly more lost rent). If mediation efforts fail, there should be a faster way of engaging the courts and pursuing legal action.
3. Fairness
There is a justified perception within the PRS that the landlord/tenant legal system is currently weighted in favour of the tenant. If any system is biased against one party, mediation is unlikely to be fair or successful.
Regular readers will know that in November’10, we presented a petition to Downing Street that was backed by 5,000 landlords calling for a fairer, faster and more efficient legal system for the PRS. It is encouraging to see that the Government are taking steps towards providing practical solutions.
